The lowest temperature ever recorded on the earth was -128.6°F (-89.2°C) at the Vostok Station on the Antarctic on July 21, 1983. The lowest temperature in the universe is roughly -453.8 °F (-269.9°C), which occurs far away from any heat emitter like the sun. But this article is not only about the lowest temperatures ever occurring. No, I'm also writing about the lowest temperature possible at all.

But before that, let's talk about the temperature scale. There are mainly three different temperature scales in use: The Fahrenheit scale, the Celsius scale and the Kelvin scale. Each scale is named after its creator. The Fahrenheit scale and its unit degree, Fahrenheit (°F), is only used in the USA and some Caribbean islands. The rest of the world uses the Celsius scale and its unit degree, Celsius (°C). The Kelvin scale and its unit, the kelvin (K), is used by scientists. This is because it has some advantages over the other two units when you do scientific calculations. (Note that for kelvin, no degree is used.)

Back to the original question: Can it become colder than -453.8 °F (-269.9°C)? And if so, is there an absolute minimum for the temperature which can be reached?

What is temperature?

The temperature of a material is a measure of the disordered microscopic movements of the atoms or molecules that the material is made of. Even though you don't see any movements, and the material seems very solid, the atoms or molecules are still moving. The movements are just invisible. The less the atoms or molecules move, the lower the temperature is and the colder it is.

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